This invention relates to the use of a lactobacillus fermentation product as a microbiological additive to existing anaerobic and/or aerobic digestion systems to improve digestion of wastes and biomass.
Heretofore, the use of lactobacillus microorganisms has been documented for a variety of purposes. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,497,359 discloses the incorporation of the lactobacillus bacteria and their metabolic products for use as a livestock feed supplement to promote digestion of foodstuffs by animals. Another use for lactobacillus bacteria in feed for livestock is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,343,962.
The use of soluble lactic acid fermentation by-products together with inactivated nondesiccated bacillus bacteria, primarily to reduce odor, has been done in the past in a general application, with regard to farm and ranch use, to septic tanks, and to municipal use for the initial treatment of the waste, and was used only in normal load conditions and applied only to the lower levels of areas to be treated.
In recent years, the public has paid great attention to the effects of pollution from an industrial society into the surrounding environment. The treatment of domestic and industrial waste water has been subjected to close scrutiny by the public and regulatory agencies alike. The establishment of standards for municipal and industrial waste water treatment facilities has required substantial changes and additions to the waste water treatment facilities in this country. Continuing inspection and regulation is performed with the purpose of preventing accidents which release untreated waste water into the surrounding fresh water systems.
The rhythm of discharge of waste water into the treatment system is directly dependent upon the operating schedule of the municipality and the industries therewithin. While a regular and constant flow of the waste water would be the optimal situation, the exigencies of different production schedules prevent a uniform flow. Consequently, during peak periods, substantial amounts of waste water may enter a facility the amount of which may exceed the existing capacity for the treatment of the waste and biomass contained within the waste water. Both the primary and secondary digesters are unable to break down the total amount of the waste passing through the treatment system during the peak periods. Therefore, an alternative to building excess capacity in the waste water treatment system to withstand peak period digestion requirements, as well as to allow for a normal expanded load capability of the system, is to provide an additive to the waste water digestion facilities which biochemically creates a greater capacity for waste water treatment than the physical attributes thereof.